Shoe-filler apparatus.



A. THOMA.

SHOE FILLER APPARATUS.

APPLIOXTION TILED MAR.5. 1906.

957,393 Patented May 10, 1910.

wmeli es till MWDEEW THOMA, 0F CAM-BRIDGE, nasseorrosnrrs, .essrenon ToNon'rn' Arr"- CHEMICAL COMPANY, OF NEW Yomr, It. 2., .a'oonronatrron orERICAIil' MEAINE.

SH'JE-EILLEE LQPJEAELATUS.

Specification of Patent. Application llfiarch 5, Z1338.

To all-whom it may concern:

Be it knownjthat I, Annnnw Zlrroera, a citizen of the United States.rcsidi. at Cambridge, in the county of Middlesex and State ofMassachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Shoe-Filler Apparatus, ofwhich the following description, in connec tion with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like numerals on the drawings representinglike parts.

In my Letters Patent No. 808,224, dated December-26, 1905, I havedescribedfthe leading characteristics of my shoe filler and method ofapplying it to shoes, and in the present application I will set forth myapparatus for handlin said filler and carrying out my method. T is shoebottom filler is normally selnisolid'and is prepared in the form ofloaves, which require to be melted slowly in the. presence of a uniformand continuous low heat, until the filler crumbles from theloaf shapeinto a heap or disintegrated approximately-fluid mass, in whichcondition it'may readily be applied to the cavity of tlye innersole andpressed in place. The filler sets almost immediately upon coming incoutnht with the. cold, damp leather, so that its fluid or senlifiuidcondition is only temporarily required as a means of enabling the fillerto be handled with ease, rapidity, economy and efficiency.

Accordingly my present invention aims to provide'rneans for reducing thefiller to its pliable condition and maintaining in said condition forthe short interval necessary in" order properly to fill and shapetheshoe bottom. To this end l have provided a supply chamber and moldingapparatus, so arranged as greatly to facilitate thl ,Wcrlr-ol? theoperator in handling the ilfil imlly intractable filler.

The details of construction and further advantages of my invention willhe pointed out in the course of the following description, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown preferredembodiment of my invention, i. d. the latter will be more particularlydefined in the appended claims, also forming a part of thisspecification.

In the drawings, Figure l is a vertical,

detail, taken on the line lel, Fig. 6; and Figs. 5 and t? are views inside elevation and top plan respectively, of a porlien of the moldingapparatus. I i

For convenience of illustration l have shown the heater or supplyreservoir as square, although it will be understood that thecross-sectional shape is arbitrary and may be varied. The heatercomprises an inner chamber 1, s *ounded by hot air fines or otherheating lost 2 and provided with an inclined bottom or filler support 3leading to an opening i, normally close by door 5,. herein shown assliding; in Ways Preferably also in the upper portion of chamber 1 llprovide a shelf slightly 1nclined and extending only partially acrossthe chamber, The Clilfll'i'lbl is closed bye cover for retainingthe andis pr: vided with a pocket 9, preferably open for receiving heatingmedium, herein shown as a resistance box or electric heater 11. l havenot undertaken to shot; the details'of construction of this heater, asthe resistance wires 12- Will be embedded therein in the usual mannerconnnonto electric heaters, the feed Wires being indicated at 13, i l,and connecting to a suitable binding post, such 15, at any convenientplace on the apparatus. From the binding post 15 a conductor 16 extendsdownwardly to a hand inolder 1'1", which maybe grasped by handle 18,and. 'is provided With. a forward metal part hav ing a molding surface19 with rounded corners, and opposite scraping edg s 20, projeeting fromthe flat top or spoonlilre lift" side 21, the internal. cavity 22thereofcontain' ing the heating resistance 23, supplied by. current fromin spring" transverse sectional view; Fig. 2 is a View in ii! l? inmolding, leveling and shaping tront elevation of the coinalcte aneratus" G1 111 the cavit of the inner-sole and Fig. 3 is a top planview of the removable the top surface of the filler by heater F1 4: 1san enlarveol cross-sectional 1' 1 the it will be understood that in.describing my apparatus above, it have set forth all the details of thepreferred embodiment thereof as completely exhibited in the drawing, but

that many variations are contemplated within the spirit and scope of Themanner of using my apparatus is as follows: The operator first places asuitable quantity of the filler in the chamber It restmg on theheatedbottom 3 of the filler, and

when this has v begin operations he places one or more loaves of reservefiller on the shelf 7. main imass of tiller flows downward by gravity 1against the door 5, ready to pass through the opening 4-. tor-use, andthe reserve filler is meanwhile being softened so that it may later'bedrop ed. into the general mass of filler, and in get will automaticallydeposit itself when it reaches the pro )er condition, because of theinclination 0d the shelf 7. The heat from the main heater 11 in thebottom of the apparatus, passes up the side lines so that a constantcirculation is maintained, which gives the best and most rapid results.The operator raises the door 5 slightly, according to the amount offiller which he wishes to maintain in thetrough 25, and then, with ashoe in his left hand,

he hits the proper amount of tiller from the trough with his right hand,by means of the flat upper side 21 of the molder, and places said tillerin the bottom cavity of the shoe, immediately smoothing down the heap offiller by means of the smoothing surface 19 of said hand molder, andinnnediately moves the top surface or the tiller in pressing engagementwith the lcveler 26, which serves to complete the molding and compactingoperation necessary for properly placing the tiller in its finishedcondition in the shoe, and then scrapes the filler from the welt andedges with the edge 30. This operation is accomplished almost instantly,the hand Inolder first dumping the filler in a heap on the shoe andthen, reversed, and simply caused to slide lengthwise oi" the shoe overthe filler and back again, thereby roughly V placing the filler inproper position, where- 30 upon the shoe is instantly placed in forciblesliding contact against the stationary molder or lcvcler 2c, and as itis pulled back therefrom a deft turn of the hand molder scrapes the weltand edges. As both the hand molder l7 and the stationary molder 26 aremaintained hot, they cohperate in quickly accomplishing the desiredresult and at the same time further melt the contacting surface of thefiller sufiiciontly to run the melted compound into the crevices andcomplete the waterproofing feature of the method, as more fully setforth in. my patent above men tioned. Having filled a shoe in this manrnor, the operator deposits the filled shoe, grasps a fresh shoe, andrepeats the operamy invention.

become, sutliciently melted to.

ceases tion, being enabled by my aparatus to fill readily two hundredpairs of s oes per hour.

One main advantageof having an apparatus electrically opera-ad is thatthereby'a uniform heat may readily be maintained in all parts of theapparatus (it being understood that a suitable rheostat, cut-out switch,etc, will be provided in connection with the supply current), also theelectric apparatus keeps longer in repair and is neuter than otheravailable means of heating; The arrangement of surrounding lines andinclined supporting surfaces gives the uniformity of melting whichexperience has proved to be necessary for my special filler, the heatbeing applied on the top as well as on the bottom by the circulation ofhot air and the internal shape of the apparatus, causing the bottomportion of the tiller to-be delivered at the exit first, so thatthere'is a continual shifting of relative position between the bottomand top portions, thereby preventing the filler from oxidizing andbecoming over.- hcated, etc., while the provision of two separatemelting devices, one to operate in connection with each hand, conducesto rapidity and etficiency of work. Theo eratoruses the stationarymolder or super eating tool 26 by pressing the shoe against it, saidshoe being held in his left hand while he operates upon the shoe withthe movable molder held in his right hand, and the fact that both ofthese molding devices are maintained continually hot notwithstandingtheir contact with the filler also facilitates the rapid turning out ofthe work. The shelf-like trough or ledge 25 serves to check the outwardflow of filler and constitutes an automatic control for the discharge,inasmuch as it will always remain approximately tilled if thedoor isleft open slightly, the mass of filler pouring" sluggishly forward asthe operator dips out of the trough, and the" inclined bottom op cratesas an automatic delivering device for said trough. i The hand molder,per se, has been divided from this case and is therefore not hereinclaimed, but is covered by pending application for patent.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent is, I

1. A. shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber adapted tohold shoe filler material which is normally self-sustaining but requiresto be melted for use, said chain-l her containing .a support for saidmaterial inclined downwardly toward the discharge end or said chambermatically the filler when melted, said chainher having double wallswhich provide a surrounding air jacket for the circulation of heated airaroundner wallsof said chamber being perforated to provide fines for thepassage cit-said,

said chamber, the 111-.

a. dii isionel' jc' 'o- A for delivering auto" air between said doublewalls ber,

melting the filler,

e0 charge outlet adjacent an approximately horizontal ceases heated airfrom between said double walls into the interior of the chamber indirectcontact with the filler material therein, means for maintaining a supplyof said hot for delivery through into the chamber, and a dischargeoutlet at the lower end of said inclined support.

2. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a 10 heating chamber having aheated inclined bottom for melting the tiller, a shelf above said bottomfor partially softening a reserve supply of filler, means permittingfree circulation of hot air throughout the cham means for supplying saidheat, and a discharge outlet' at the lower end of said bottom.

3. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a chamber having a lower meltingportion for a shelf extending partially across the chamber above saidlower portion, for holding a reserve supply, means or maintaining extraheat at the bottom and moderate heat around the top of the chamber and adischarge outlet at, the lower end of said chamber.

4. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber adapted to holdshoe filler material which requires melting for use,

said chamber having double Walls which provide a surrounding air jacketfor the circulation of heated air around said chamher, said chamber alsocontaining a double bottom normally open at one side, a selfcontainedelectric heater fitting the cavity in said double bottom, removabletherefrom without disturbing the apparatus, and means for closing saidbottom when the heater is in place therein, said chamber having a disthebottom, and means for regulating the discharge of the melted filler atsaid outlet.

5. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber having doublewalls, heating wires between said Walls, a discharge opening at thebottom of said chamber, and shelf-like extension from said opening forautomatically checlring the flow of material and render-' mg itavailable to the operator.

6. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber provided withmeans for afiordlng an even heat, and containing an upper heatedcon'ipartment for the initial heating of the filler material, a lowercompartment to receive the latter when softened, means for superheatingsaid lower compartment and a receiving device, in position to receive bygravity said softened but not liquid filler material, constructed andarranged to automatically control the discharge of the filler.

7. A. shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber for receivingthe filler to be melted, said chamber being provided with meansincluding an external trough for antomatically receiving from theinterior and holding stationary a continuous supply in predeterminedamount of the softened material.

8. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber having doubleWalls, removable heating means containing electric resistance wiresbetween said walls, a lateral discharge opening adjacent the bottom ofsaid chamber, a hand molder located at said opening, and means fordelivering electric current to said resistance wires and to said hand'mo lder, the latter being yieldingly connected to said chamber .orpermitting free manipulation without permanently changing the locationthereof.

9. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber for melting theliller,a discharge outlet at the lower end of said chamber, and moldingmechanism permanently fixed. to said apparatus at said outlet formolding the filler from said outlet when placed in a shoe, saidmechanism including a stationary art of said apparatus and ahand-operate part for permitting the operator to employ both hands n themolding operation. p

10. A shoe filler apparatus, comprising a heating chamber having adischarge opening at its lower end, a trough for receiving ,fillertherefrom, a superheating molder on the under side of said trough, andmeans for maintaining said parts evenly heated.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ANDREW THOMA. Witnesses GEO. H. MAXWELL, VVM. J. PIKE.

